CFE Film Series: Harlan County U.S.A

Barbara Kopple’s Academy Award–winning Harlan County USA unflinchingly documents a grueling coal miners’ strike in a small Kentucky town. With unprecedented access, Kopple and her crew captured the miners’ sometimes violent struggles with strikebreakers, local police, and company thugs. Featuring a haunting soundtrack—with legendary country and bluegrass artists Hazel Dickens, Merle Travis, Sarah Gunning, and Florence Reece—the film is a heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.

“One of the finest documentaries ever made … a brilliant exposé about the embattled history of coal miners in America as seen through the very personal prism of striking coal miners in Harlan County, Kentucky.”

            --Cole Smithey, colesmithey.com

“an ardent, absorbing work of partisan documentary film-making”

            -Gary Arnold, Washington Post

“a fascinating and moving work”

            -Rihard Eder, New York Times

Introduction by James L. Turk, Director, Centre for Free Expression

Co-sponsored with the Documentary Media Research Centre at Ryerson University

Please contact cfe@ryerson.ca if you require accommodation to ensure inclusion in this event